Through rehabilitation technology, our rehabilitation engineers provide consultation, individual assessment, and design and fabrication to assist you in overcoming barriers at home and at work.

Job retention services get people back on the right track.

— Jimmy Kerr, owner, AMCS, Charleston

Benefits:

If you are an employee, benefits may include:

Counseling and guidance

Medical or psychological evaluation/treatment

Training to improve inter-personal skills

Job-site accommodations

Referrals to other services

If you are an employer, benefits may include:

Improved quality and quantity of work

Better employee relationships

Less tardiness and absenteeism

Less turnover

Improved safety

VR can also provide training for supervisors on how to communicate with and provide assistance to employees with disabilities.

Referral for services

These services are completely confidential and can help you stay on your job while getting help and support.

Employees can apply for VR services on their own, or an employer can make the referral.

VR wants you
to be successful!

Cecelia Maples, a school bus driver in Kershaw County, was worried about losing her job. “I could barely walk and when I did, it was just agonizing pain,” she says.

During an inservice meeting for county bus drivers she heard a presentation by Robbie Truesdale, a VR Consumer Services Specialist, about challenges that drivers might be facing, such as knee, shoulder or back pain; hypertension; diabetes; or stress and anxiety. He then explained how VR services could help them overcome those challenges.

Cecelia immediately called the Camden Area Office and a counselor arranged for her to see a specialist who determined that she has plantar fasciitis, a persistent form of repetitive strain injury. A VR rehabilitation technology engineer worked with Cecelia to provide an ergonomic back support and seat cushion for her bus, custom inserts for her shoes, splints that she wears at night and a custom-built support for her to use while driving.

The result is that Cecelia has been able to keep her job, and more. “I don’t feel limited now,” she says with a big smile. “I can get out and do the things that I used to do.”

More than 15 drivers contacted the Camden Office after that first meeting. Almost all of them were able to maintain their job, and the few who were unable to continue as a bus drivers were assisted with finding alternative employment.”

This all started when Richard Podmore, former Transportation Coordinator for York School District One and now Director of Safety and Information for the SC Department of Education Office of Transportation, heard a presentation of VR services to the technicians and shop personnel from around the state who service school buses.

“They are helping the technicians in the same way they helped bus drivers,” he says.

”I had a number of them reach out to me and say how much they have appreciated getting this information. If a technician or a driver cannot pass a Department of Transportation physical, they are out of a job. By providing the services that these individuals need, VR has helped them remain employed.”

“These folks want to work,” says Podmore. “Their love and livelihood is working on, or driving, buses. Both jobs require a commercial driver’s license, which also requires a physical. VR helps people stay employed and does that quite well. And if it happens that someone cannot keep their job as a driver or a mechanic, VR can help them with training and resources so they can do something else.”

Each side benefits. The employer, the employee and VR are working together to make sure the employee is successful.

For Cecelia, it has meant that she has been able to keep her job, and more.

“I don’t feel limited now. I can get out and do the things that I used to do. I’ve started walking again—I even bought walking shoes!” she says with a big smile.